This article first appeared in our World Environment Day issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published 05 June 2024. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Main image: Investor and green entrepreneur Deborah Meaden at Blue Earth Summit 2023
The founders of Blue Earth Summit have launched a new competition – BE100 – to accelerate innovation in climate health.
For the competition, 1,000 planet-positive startups and scale-ups are invited to pitch to hundreds of investors with access to £100 million in funds.
As Europe’s biggest scale opportunity for green and environmental innovators, entry to BE100 is free and open to business of all sizes.
Blue Earth Summit organisers are expecting applications from startups and scale-ups in climate technology, clean energy, air and water – but want to hear from all emerging business solutions in planet health.
Designed to fast-forward innovative solutions, BE100 will form a central part of the Blue Earth Summit manifesto Inspire. Connect. Act.
‘We all recognise that time is running out to protect our planet’, says Guy Hayler, co-founder of Blue Earth Summit. ‘BE100 is our own direct action to find and fund businesses that are driving systemic change within their respective industries. To date we have raised over £125m for 42 businesses and expect to play a role in raising £100m for businesses that are part of the Blue Earth community this year.’
Registrations are open and formal applications will open in June 2024 at Blue Earth Forum, as part of London Climate Action Week. A subsequent selection process will see 30 finalists pitch to investors live on stage at Blue Earth Summit 2024.
Now in its fourth year, Blue Earth Summit is a supercharged event gathering over 5,000 innovators, startups, scale-ups, global corporations, politicians, adventurers, academics, celebrities and campaigners under one roof at Woolwich Works, to connect, act fast and create planet-positive change.
The event covers three packed days and 10 stages, with 300 speakers including Dragons’ Den’s Deborah Meaden; Ecotricity founder Dale Vince OBE; Iceland CEO Richard Walker; former minister and trustee of the Climate Group, Amber Rudd and Arctic explorer and investor, Ben Saunders. They will join representatives from a range of organisations including Virgin, Diageo, British Business Bank, Rewilding Britain and Blue Marine Foundation.
From city health to tech-enabled conservation, nature, energy, water, fashion waste, finance and investment, every significant climate impact sector will be represented with talks, workshops, clinics and networking opportunities in a bid to optimise learning and inspire action.
Ahead of Blue Earth Summit, Blue Earth Forum will take place at Protein Studios in Shoreditch, London 25-26 June, during London Climate Week.
The Forum will connect over 200 impact investors with 40 of the most exciting and scalable climate-positive innovators, as well as a variety of expert speakers.
These include Claire McKenzie, producer of the film Six Inches of Soil; Andrew Wordsworth, co-founder of Sustainable Ventures; Simon Hill-Norton, impact investor and former co-owner of Sweaty Betty and Sophie Bidwell, impact investor at Re_Set.
App-optimised technology will enable founders to pre-book pitch slots with like-minded investors, helping to accelerate connections and collaboration.
We’re looking forward to another successful Blue Earth Summit and hope to see you there.
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